Lethbridge Weddings & Portrait Photography by Tanya Plonka

Meaghan and James made their Canadian Reformed Church winter wedding extra personal by including family members in all of the important parts of the day. James’ older brother performed their ceremony, which made it more special but also meant a few hilarious jabs at James were included. Their twin nephews did an amazing job as ring bearers, and siblings were included in their wedding party so they could spend all day together. Meaghan’s little sister may be one of the youngest maid of honours we’ve had, and she did an amazing job helping her sister!

Both of them were a little nervous excited in the morning, but that all melted away once they saw each other at the church. James absolutely lit up once Meaghan and her father came through the doors. He looked like he was fighting back exclaiming, “Wow!” out loud. :)

After weeks of little to no snow, their wedding day ended up being one of those rare days the snow came down! Meaghan and James were able to get the winter wedding they had hoped for (who would have thought February would be so warm?). Luckily the sun was also out and the bridesmaids all had shawls. We appreciate everyone freezing to get such great photos in the river bottom :)

Congratulations, Meaghan and James!

Adam and Dianne love the landscape around where they grew up and incorporated it into their Readymade Community Centre summer wedding. All of the rustic walls and buildings around Dianne’s family farm made for great photo backdrops, and her parents house with grand staircase was the perfect spot to have their first look.

Just around the corner from the farm are Readymade and Stafford Park so we didn’t have to go far (we only had to carefully photograph around the people tubing at the lake!). Just after photos, they had their ceremony at the Canadian Reformed Church in Coaldale.

Dianne looked so elegant in her lace wedding dress with a low back and her beautiful auburn hair let down. Adam could not stop grinning at her! He continued stealing glances at her through the whole ceremony even though they had spent the last three hours lovingly looking at each other for photos. In their reception program, they described Adam as “very tall” and Dianne as “not so tall” – so during portraits we made Adam be the one to bridge the height distance to kiss his gorgeous bride ;)

Congratulations, Dianne and Adam!

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December weddings are so much better with a nice fresh coat of snow. Kayla and Kevin had just that for their snowy Coaldale winter wedding! Even though it was a lot colder than anticipated and limited our outdoor time, we still managed to sneak out a couple times to make use of the beautiful snow. I’m glad we could after Kayla found just an awesome red barn!

We started out our photos in Lethbridge where Kayla and Kevin got to see each other for the first time and had a great time with their wedding party. I loved watching all the silly faces Kevin sneaks in to make Kayla giggle! Once we went outside, Kayla donned her gorgeous blue fur lined cape to stay warm.

Just before sunset, they had their ceremony at the Coaldale Canadian Reformed Church. Their ring bearer and flower girl totally stole the show during the sermon (evidence to follow… keep reading!).

Congratulations, Kevin and Kayla!

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Occasionally I love to take a back seat in the process and second shoot for other photographers. Chaisson and Krystal’s Coaldale warm winter wedding at the Canadian Reformed Church was my first time working with Andrea Hulst… at least in this way! She was a bridesmaid in one of my weddings last summer so it was really neat to work with her in a totally different way!

Despite the wedding taking place in February, the weather was like spring, allowing us to go outside for gorgeous golden photos.

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After standing beside her friend earlier this year, it was now time for Annelies’s Coaldale winter wedding with her love Kyle!

Their ceremony at the Coaldale Canadian Reformed Church was very special in that it was performed by Annelies’s grandfather, and even more so that she is the first of his grandchildren to get married! It added such a personal touch to be able to include their family so intimately.

Most of their details were created by people involved in the wedding, but mostly by Annelies who designed all of the paper items and created the bouquets by hand. She has so much talent and it’s not surprising she is a graphic designer.

We had the perfect winter weather for their wedding. November can be quite unpredictable, but we had a gorgeous mix of snow on the ground and enough sunshine to keep them warm when we went out for photos in Lethbridge. Their wedding party was so fun and energetic and it was great to see a few familiar faces in the lineup.

Annelies and Kyle are such a sweet and romantic couple and they really accented that feel with their styling of blush pink, wine, bow ties, and cardigans.

Congratulations, Kyle and Annelies!

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Derek and Tara-Lee held a beautiful Coaldale farm wedding this summer, making use of some amazing country locations in the area. The rustic aesthetic was offset with classic touches of lace and soft pink.

After the girls got ready at Tara-Lee’s house (including makeup done by Tara-Lee’s sister, Karina), they headed to the Coaldale Canadian Reformed Church for the ceremony. Between all the tears and Tara-Lee never being able to hold back her huge grin, there was so much happy energy there!

They both looked stunning and are always so blissful in each others presence. We had such a laid back day with them while everyone joked around and had fun at all the farms we visited.

Congratulations, Derek & Tara-Lee!

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